Cafe Society: Openings, closings and BBQ will be Ventura County food trends in 2013

Tri-tip sandwiches are on the menu at Santa Barbara Chicken Ranch, a Santa Barbara County-based eatery that will open a Ventura location in early 2013.

Ventura County Star

Sossy's BBQ Sandwiches is one of several barbecue restaurants slated to open in Ventura County in 2013. It will be located at what used to be Burger Express in Newbury Park.

Ventura County Star

The former Pizza Mizza space in Ventura will be home to the first Dickey's Barbecue Pit location in Ventura County. The Texas-based chain specializes in brisket.

Ventura County Star

The foodie world has been abuzz with predictions for the New Year, some more enticing than others. Apparently, crispy pigs' ears are out and smoked anything is in, according to The New York Times.

In Ventura County, the forecast calls for more of the same. There will be surprise closings and anticipated openings, with perhaps a bit more barbecue sauce than we saw in 2012.

But first: Can we talk about last year? It seemed that for every non-starter like Bauducco's Italian Restaurant, Market & Deli — which in October moved out of its new Thousand Oaks Boulevard location without ever actually opening — there were four new places to try.

Some filled empty spaces with intriguing new possibilities.

In Thousand Oaks, the farm-to-table movement got a passing nod at Paul Martin's American Grill (100 S. Westlake Blvd., 373-9300) and Lemonade (100 Promenade Way, 778-9100), which took over The Promenade at Westlake spaces left vacant by the more mainstream chains Chili's and California Pizza Kitchen ASAP, respectively.

In Ventura, the opening of Barrelhouse 101 at the former Brooks restaurant (545 E. Thompson Blvd., 643-0906) tapped into the thirst for craft beers by offering the titular number of them on draft.

Building on that interest was the arrival last month of Social Tap, which also gives foodies a place to find dishes by "MasterChef" finalist turned executive chef Adrien Nieto on a regular basis. Social Tap additionally has transformed a long-vacant eyesore of a building, setting the stage for the potential revitalization of Ventura's Pierpont neighborhood (1105 S. Seaward Ave., 667-8485).

The year also saw several triumphant returns.

After a debilitating fire in February, Cafe Nouveau in Ventura reopened in December with an updated kitchen and a new crosswalk designed to encourage diners to stop parking on a nearby residential street (1497 E. Thompson Blvd., 648-1422).

Closed for two years, former downtown mainstay Top Hat Burger Palace was resurrected in January by new owners at a new location near Ventura High School (2050 E. Main St., 643-9696). But O-Hi Frostie was the big surprise, returning to the Ojai Valley six years after it closed and owner Rick Henderson moved out of state. Then Henderson returned and teamed with fellow restaurateur Mike Luevano to offer their respective menus of burgers, corn burritos and falafels at what is now known as O-Hi Frostie at Josephina's Cafe (1205 Maricopa Highway, 640-1905).

What does the future hold? My calendar already includes pencil scribblings for:

- The opening in late January or early February of Lure Fish House at the Westlake Village address that used to be The Edge Grill. Launched in Camarillo in 2010, Lure opened in downtown Ventura in November. The Westlake Village version will be the largest of the three, said co-owner David Cortina (30970 Russell Ranch Road, 818-651-6611).

- The opening in late January or early February of Subway at what for 35 years had been the OxnardH. Salt Fish & Chips before the latter closed in February (645 S. Ventura Road).

- The opening on Feb. 7 of what has been billed as the "first" Chick-fil-A in Ventura. The new building is under construction in a corner of the parking lot in front of Burlington Coat Factory (1321 Eastman Ave.).

- The painting of Ventura County with a sauce-laden barbecue mop. The city of Ventura is the anticipated future home of Saloon BBQ (at the former Franky's Place, 456 E. Main St.), Santa Barbara Chicken Ranch (at the former L & L Hawaiian Barbecue, 4020 E. Main St., Suite B-10) and Dickey's Barbecue Pit (now scheduled to open in late January or early February at the former Pizza Mizza, 6100 Telegraph Road, Suite F, 212-4240).

In Newbury Park, the father-and-son team of Dan and Greg Smith is working toward the hoped-for February opening of Sossy's BBQ Sandwiches, at what used to be Burger Express (2140 Newbury Road, Suite D).

And in Oxnard, the chains Famous Dave's and Gen Korean BBQ are expected to open locations in the spring at The Collection at RiverPark.

The retail, entertainment and dining center at Oxnard Boulevard and Highway 101 likely will serve as new-restaurant central in 2013: Also coming to its planned 650,000 square feet of space is Menchie's Frozen Yogurt (still sporting papered-over windows this week despite a previously announced November opening) and the spring debuts of Gandolfo's New York Delicatessen, Starbucks and Whole Foods Market. Talk of a proposed Yard House location was favorably received during a community workshop in November, but it doesn't look as though an application has been made yet for a license to sell alcohol at the address in question.

OPEN AND SHUT: Las Delicias Mexican Taqueria has opened at what most recently was Cottage Cafe in Ventura. With three sister sites in Canyon Country and Santa Clarita, the order-at-the-counter restaurant offers machaca and eggs and breakfast burritos in the morning and tostadas, fajitas, torta vegetariana and flan as the day goes on. Its seafood menu includes fish tacos, shrimp and octopus cocktails, and Caldo de Siete Mares, or Seven Seas Soup, a dish made with fish, octopus and shellfish. The décor features faux crumbling walls, tabletops bearing photos of California beaches and, embedded in the floor and one wall, Aztec calendars — because the Mayan ones were so 2012 (2611 E. Thompson Blvd., 643-0701).

A handwritten sign on the door at Mariann's Italian Villa in Port Hueneme reads "closed for renovation." A quick peek through the windows — covered here with dust and there with wine bottle-patterned curtains — reveals that furnishings have been moved around and that a sheet of protective plastic has been draped over a back doorway. But calls to the restaurant's phone number (disconnected) and attempts to visit its website (down for the count) tell a different story (301 W. Channel Islands Blvd.).

HUNKA, HUNKA: Tuesday marks what would have been Elvis Presley's 78th birthday, a fact that will be celebrated during Elvis Week at the Crazy Dr. Cafe in Ventura. Presley tunes will play Monday through Saturday, culminating from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday with a question-and-answer session and book signing with Steve Binder, director of Presley's 1968 "Comeback Special" on NBC. A longtime Oxnard resident, Binder now is co-owner of the cafe with his wife and stepson, Dr. Nate Weber, an anesthesiologist at Ventura County Medical Center. The menu typically focuses on coffee, juices and smoothies but on Saturday will include free samples of peanut butter and banana sandwiches, one of The King's favorite combos, said Binder (2991 Loma Vista Road, 643-0800).

Lisa McKinnon is a columnist at The Star. Her email address is lmckinnon@vcstar.com. For between-column food and restaurant news, follow 805foodie on Twitter and Instagram, and "like" the Facebook page VCS Eats.